As I was praying and worshiping with the new training camp teams this year, all I could think about is how far I have come in just one single year.
Just last year, I was a broken, fearful mess. I honestly didn’t even know what Adventures in Missions was, or what I was committing to when deciding to go on the World Race. I was so so blind to the truth, and I was about to embark on a life changing, faith provoking trip.
Recently, the Lord asked me to sit, reflect and celebrate this journey.
I really don’t think that we do that enough!
Often, we get so caught up in either the current problem or situation at hand, or the future problems and situations that are coming in hot. When was the last time you looked back on your past year and said “hey, there is a lot of good and bad, but I’m going to celebrate the ride regardless.”
So that’s what I’m choosing to do in this season. I’m learning to walk instep with the Lauren that our Father created me to be, and celebrating the journey that He’s walked me through from the beginning. I’ve gone from believing that God didn’t exist, to traveling the world to do His work, joining a discipleship school, and actively seeking His heart daily.
While doing this, I actually got to look back on the days before I was following Jesus. I remember going to church and absolutely hating it (I only went to hang out with my family). I used to fall asleep every Sunday on my moms shoulder.
The Lord took me back to a specific Sunday when He softened my heart to truly hear what was being spoken. I remember being absolutely captivated by every word the preacher spoke. It was the first time when the Bible didn’t seem like a fairytale, and I became hungry for more. I wanted to know more about this Jesus character and why He would choose to die such a painful death for a bunch of no-good humans (spoiler alert: He loves us like a lot a lot). The funny thing is, I realized that the book the pastor was preaching in was the book of Acts. Fun fact: the book of acts is literally a book of the disciples doing mission work (*ahem* also the thing He called me to the last year of my life). The Lord spoke to me about being a missionary before I even knew who He was. It’s the single thing that sparked my interest in knowing the Father, and it’s now indefinitely part of my life.
Isn’t that wild? Simply taking a minute to look back on this journey the Lord has brought me through has given me strength, and inspiration to keep going. Who knows where I will be next year? Or the year after? The only constant in my life is that the Father has been oh so good and He always shows me direction right when I need it. And I promise to stay faithful, and walk so closely to Him that I can catch every word, and whisper He says.
And you know what He says back?
He tells me He is unbelievably proud of me.
I think I am too.
*Thanks a million for reading my blog! I have been dead in the water with writers block but I took a day to pray and fast and BOOM words on a paper that mean something to me. Hey hee. Anyways, if you liked this and feel the call to support me, press the donate button on my page! I am currently $2,000 or so away from my deadline at the end of this month. Your donations and prayers mean everything, thank you!*
